Dehydration - caused by diarrhoea - is the biggest single killer of
children in the modern world. Now it can be prevented by oral rehydration therapy (ORT)
using either a sachet of salts or a cheaper homemade version. As a
result, parents themselves could prevent the deaths of several million children each year. Childhood Diseases

In developing countries, 70% of childhood deaths - over 8 million - are caused by no more than
five conditions - pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles and malnutrition. Three out of every four
children who seek healthcare are suffering from one or more of these conditions. Yet low-cost
interventions are available to prevent or treat them. In Mexico, for example, determined efforts by the government to promote the use of oral
re-hydration therapy - which costs as little as US$0.33 - to immunize children against measles,
and to improve access to safe water and sanitation have succeeded in reducing childhood deaths
from diarrhoeal diseases by 60% in less than a decade. Other key factors in this success have
included an increase in education levels among women, investment of adequate resources and the
widespread use of case management guidelines. - World Bank - January 2, 2001

Pilot
Campaigns Halve DeathsField trials with ORT have reduced diarrhoea deaths by 50% in villages
and urban neighbourhoods of "ORT can rightly be called the medical miracle of this century .... For peoples in Asia, Africa and Latin American, ORT holds the promise of healthier
childhoods and more productive adult lives."Shamsul Hag. Minister for Health and Population Control, Government of
Bangladesh.